Vampire
"I am The Ancient, I am The Land. My beginnings are lost in the darkness of the past. I was the warrior, I was good and just. I thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god, but the war years and the killing years wore down my soul as the wind wears down stone into sand." —Count Strahd von Zarovich Vampires Awakened to an endless night, vampires hunger for the life they have lost and sate that hunger by drinking the blood of the living. Vampires abhor sunlight, for its touch burns them. They never cast shadows or reflections, and any vampire wishing to move unnoticed among the living keeps to the darkness and far from reflective surfaces. Dark Desires. Whether or not a vampire retains any memories from its former life, its emotional attachments wither as once-pure feelings become twisted by undeath. Love turns into hungry obsession, while friendship becomes bitter jealousy. In place of emotion, vampires pursue physical symbols of what they crave, so that a vampire seeking love might fixate on a young beauty. A child might become an object of fascination for a vampire obsessed with youth and potential. Others surround themselves with art, books, or sinister items such as torture devices or trophies from creatures they have killed. Born from Death. Most of a vampire’s victims become vampire spawn—ravenous creatures with a vampire’s hunger for blood, but under the control of the vampire that created them. If a true vampire allows a spawn to draw blood from its own body, the spawn transforms into a true vampire no longer under its master’s control. Few vampires are willing to relinquish their control in this manner. Vampire spawn become free-willed when their creator dies. Chained to the Grave. Every vampire remains bound to its coffin, crypt, or grave site, where it must rest by day. If a vampire didn’t receive a formal burial, it must lie beneath a foot of earth at the place of its transition to undeath. A vampire can move its place of burial by transporting its coffin or a significant amount of grave dirt to another location. Some vampires set up multiple resting places this way. Undead Nature. Neither a vampire nor a vampire spawn requires air. Player Characters as Vampires The game statistics of a player character transformed into a vampire spawn and then a vampire don’t change, except that the character’s Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores become 18 if they aren’t higher. In addition, the character gains the vampire’s damage resistances, darkvision, traits, and actions. Attack and damage rolls for the vampire’s attacks are based on Strength. The save DC for Charm is 8 + the vampire’s proficiency bonus + the vampire’s Charisma modifier. The character’s alignment becomes lawful evil, and the DM might take control of the character until the vampirism is reversed with a wish spell or the character is killed and brought back to life. Variants: Vampire Spawn Vampire Spellcaster Vampire Warrior A Vampire’s Lair A vampire chooses a grand yet defensible location for its lair, such as a castle, fortified manor, or walled abbey. It hides its coffin in an underground crypt or vault guarded by vampire spawn or other loyal creatures of the night. Regional Effects The region surrounding a vampire’s lair is warped by the creature’s unnatural presence, creating any of the following effects: • There’s a noticeable increase in the populations of bats, rats, and wolves in the region. • Plants within 500 feet of the lair wither, and their stems and branches become twisted and thorny. • Shadows cast within 500 feet of the lair seem abnormally gaunt and sometimes move as though alive. • A creeping fog clings to the ground within 500 feet of the vampire’s lair. The fog occasionally takes eerie forms, such as grasping claws and writhing serpents. If the vampire is destroyed, these effects end after 2d6 days. Category:Undead Category:Monster Category:Lore